The D Spot

Today my thoughts turn again to that mysterious state of being, love.
I have a friend who recently ended a long-term relationship and we discussed the pitfalls of falling in love too early, and how easy it is to confuse those infatuated butterflies with the real-deal, true-blue love that everyone is searching for.
I started wondering if love is a constant state of being or if it can really come and go. Can you really ever stop loving someone, after having given your heart to them?
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Isn’t there always some sort of connection that comes into being after two people, for whatever length of time, declare mutual love and affection to each other? And if they stop being a couple, do those feelings just vanish? Can they vanish? If those feelings vanish, then was it really love?
Is there a corner of the heart somewhere that is dedicated to the loves we have experienced, the arms that have surrounded us, the person that cherished us if only briefly?
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There are certainly situations where love is withdrawn. Abuse, neglect, maltreatment….those types of situations will take what may have blossomed into love and tromp it down to dust.
But that is not what I am referring to in this post.
I am speaking of a relationship that is more or less ‘healthy.’
It could be romantic.
It could be familial.
It could be a friendship.
Does the love just end if the relationship ends?
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My own experiences are that it doesn’t truly go away. How can it? Love is created and grows. It can’t just disappear. I hold a place for all those that I have loved, regardless of the endings.
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What do you think? Does it die, does it fade, does it glow? Does love ever really go away?